resist his compulsion. It did give you a slight advantage. Now that he knows, he’ll come after you with everything. However, he still doesn’t know who you really are or what you’re capable of.”
“We found the formula for the cure,” I said. “And John Patten’s notes. But... we tried it and it didn’t work.”
“You tested it, on an elite?”
“On me,” Penelope said.
Tobias narrowed his eyes and he spun around suddenly.
“You what?” he growled, his fingers drifting towards his sword. “Which one of you assholes used my wife as a guinea pig?”
“I had a vision,” I said quickly. “A blood memory, from Damien’s mother, which meant she was an elite, right – before everything. That means, maybe, Richard wasn’t working on a cure for cancer like he told everyone, after he’d failed to save his wife. What if he succeeded, and turned her elite, and was actually working on a cure? What if the notes and research are at his house still?”
“That’s why you’re out here? That’s a really big stretch, Emily.”
“But you said it yourself, there’s no other way to beat him. He’s too powerful. Right?”
Tobias sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, then nodded.
“This way,” he called, gesturing to the path in front of us, leading between a valley of ruined buildings. He lead us through two intersections, the old cement roads so overgrown they were hard to see in the darkness. The elixir kept me going until dawn but I knew the others were struggling. Trevor pulled me aside as the buildings thinned and we came to the edge of another forest.
“Why are we following them?” he said. “You saw what Penelope did to that guy back there.”
“He shot her, what was she supposed to do? Besides, without Tobias I’d probably be dead.”
“He serves King Richard. How do you know we can trust him?”
I glanced up ahead.
“He loves her,” I shrugged. “And there’s no place for her in King Richard’s system.”
The sky was lightening on the horizon. We climbed up over a hill, weaving through scattered vehicles as we turned down an ancient highway.
Tobias wore his sword loosely. Trevor and Luke had picked up rifles, but carried knives as well. Everyone else had managed to get dressed properly, with their gear and weapons. I was the only one in stolen boots and a nightgown, though at least I still had my hooded jacket, which fell practically to my bare knees.
The sky was nearly black with ash, but the orange glow on the horizon let us know daybreak was upon us. In the distance, above the treeline, leaning buildings and twisted metal grew larger as we approached the remains of an ancient settlement.
We cut though a tall field of weeds and rubble. I tripped over something shiny, and looked down to see a pile of bicycles, half buried under the earth.
Tobias nodded towards a wide rectangular building. Rusted, yellow buses dotted the perimeter. Several looked like they’d been torched from within, and one was lying on its side like a beached whale. Vines grew up through the empty spaces where windows used to be, and a handful of young pines sprouted from their dented roofs.
“What’s this?” Luke asked.
“Fanno Creek High,” Tobias said, considering the building with a tinge of sadness.
“This is where Damien went to school,” I breathed. “This is where it happened. With the girl.”
“He told you about that?” Tobias asked, his eyes widening. I nodded.
“We weren’t friends,” Tobias said. “Not before. I remember that day so clearly, even after all these years. It was the last normal day of my life. When the attack happened, for a few days we just talked about what a psycho Damien had become, after losing his mother. But then there were more deaths. People started disappearing. Videos posted online that everybody thought were fake; we didn’t know what was happening.”
Tattered scraps of red and white fabric fluttered from a weathered flagpole as we crossed in front of the building.
“I didn’t come back until years after I’d been turned. I wandered at first, resisting the urge to feed until I lost all sense, until the blood lust took over. I did… terrible things. Hated myself, and what I’d become. Then Damien found me. He told me there was another way.”
Large chains blocked the front doors, but Tobias smashed through them with a brick. The hallway was half filled with rubble, and the ceiling had collapsed in a few places, letting in hot sparks that had scorched the hallway. Lockers yawned towards us,